Wyndham Street Municipal Class Environmental Assessment

About the project

Wyndham Street North is a vital corridor to the accessibility, local economy and placemaking of Downtown Guelph. The Downtown Streetscape Manual, completed in 2014, included recommendations to reduce Wyndham Street from four to two lanes and introduce a traffic circle at the Wyndham/Quebec/Douglas intersection, creating a public square in the St. George’s Square area.

In response, and as part of the broader Downtown Infrastructure Revitalization work, the City of Guelph has initiated a Municipal Class EA (Class EA) to confirm the required improvements to Wyndham Street North from Carden Street to Woolwich Street.

The purpose of the study is to enhance road safety, operations and connectivity for all users including vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists, and transit through the Wyndham Street corridor and improve the St. Georges Square at the Wyndham/Quebec/Douglas intersection to enhance traffic operations and safety for all users.

The study will consider options for the Wyndham Street corridor, including lane reduction from four to two lanes, and the implementation of a traffic circle in St. George’s Square.

The location and approximate extent of the study area are shown on the map.

The process

The project is being completed as a Schedule “B” project in accordance with the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (October 2000, amended in 2007, 2011 and 2015).

In developing the recommendations, the study will consider technical, aesthetic and structural requirements, as well as socio-economic, cultural heritage and natural environment factors.

Community engagement

Public and technical agency consultation will be fundamental in developing the study recommendations.

Two virtual public open houses will be held during the study to share information and receive input from the public. Details, including the date, time and how to participate in each virtual public open house will be announced in a newspaper notice and posted on this webpage.

One open house was completed on November 2, 2022.

Project progress

The project team has completed the following supporting studies that are required to understand the existing conditions of Wyndham Street North:

• Preliminary geotechnical investigation
• Natural environment assessment
• Cultural heritage Assessments
• Stage 1 Archeological assessment
• Traffic study

Following the completion of the studies of the existing conditions above, a long list of alternatives was created for each of the different structures. The long list was presented to the public via an open house on November 2, 2022.

An evaluation criterion was developed for the alternatives in conjunction with the input received at the open house and the City’s previously completed Policy/Vision documents. The long list of alternatives was then assessed against the evaluation criteria. Following the evaluation, a short list of alternatives was created.

The City is in the process of evaluating the proposed shortlist alternatives.

The existing conditions studies, the long list of alternatives that were presented at the public open house, and the long list to shortlist evaluation memo are all available upon request.

Resources and documents

Notice of commencement – Wyndham Street

Long List to Short List Workshop

Existing Conditions Technical Memorandum

QA Sign off – Existing conditionsAppendix 1 – Natural environment conditions

Appendix 2 – Cultural Heritage Report

Appendix 3 – Archealogical Assessment 

Appendix 4 – Traffic and Transportation

For more information

Please contact one of our project team members if you have questions or comments or would like to be added to the project mailing list.